Colchester girl in Scafell Pike climb for Little Troopers

Isabelle Barnes, seven, of Colchester, travelled nearly 300 miles to the Lake District on Saturday to scale Scafell Pike in aid of the Little Troopers army charity.

Isabelle climbed the 978m (3209ft) peak with mum Bethan and a group of 30 climbers from the charity, military personnel and other children.

The whole challenge took five hours in total, as they set off at 9am and reached the peak just before 12noon, before getting back down by 2pm.

Amazing - the group during the challenge (Image: Little Troopers) The intrepid youngster “loves climbing, running, and jumping” and was inspired to raise funds for Little Troopers as dad Lee has served in the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery for 15 years.

Isabelle has spent many of those years missing out on birthdays, school events and other dates, and her family has used resources from the charity to support them at times when Lee is away for work.

Last year, Isabelle raised funds for the charity by climbing Snowdon, in Wales.

She has now raised a whopping £666 for Little Troopers.

She said: “I thought it would be easy but due to the wind and rain it was tough.

“At times I got very cold, but I was determined to do it and I did.

“I raised more than £600 and I am really proud that I did it, so are all my friends and family."

Bethan is very proud of her daughter's achievement.

She said: “Isabelle strives for a challenge and wanted to push herself to the next level.

“Her strength and courage is admirable and we hope this will inspire others to give it a go to.”

Little Troopers is a charity founded by British Army veteran Louise Fetigan in 2011.

It supports children whose parents are serving in the British Armed Forces, including regular personnel and reserves.

Funds raised from the Scafell Pike trek are going towards the charity’s projects, including the All Together deployment club, Christmas Smiles initiative and Little Troopers at School programme. 

To find out more about Little Troopers, visit littletroopers.net.

If you would like to donate to Isabelle's appeal, visit donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/scafell-pike-hike.